LG to Announce First Flexible OLED Smartphone in 2013

The future belongs to flexible OLED display technology, and our tech vendors are working on it. When Samsung demoed it first smartphone featuring flexible display tech CES 2013 earlier this year; everyone was thrilled including Samsung. The device could start retaining this fall, as per Samsung spokesperson. Then news broke by South Korean newspaper - ETnews, which stated that the firm is having problems with the display quality.

"As we have accumulated expertise in this field, progress is being made in substrates as well as encapsulation technology. We have developed a new technology than can shorten the encapsulation process to less than 2 minutes by using the Vitex System-developed encapsulation technology".

LG, another major tech titan, who has been working hard to craft a smarphone featuring flexible display technology, announces that expect our first device to land before the end of 2013 ( via WSJ). So, LG will deliver a flexible OLED smartphone, as per Yoon Bu-hyun, Vice President at LG. Last year, it was said that LG Display was all most ready the futuristic technology, and plans to produce mass-production by the second half of 2013 (via Korean Times).

Samsung's YOUM brand will indeed make smartphones featuring flexible OLED display. Under YOUM brand, the display will be made thinner, lighter, and unbreakable. Do not expect smartphone with bendable display in the coming month, but do expect wraparound displays that could have regular looking smartphone.

Apple has also filed a patent in reference to wraparound displays. That technology would be certainly used to power up iPhone 6. Nokia is also working to create a phone with entire surface being touch sensitive. Nokia calls it the GEM concept. The Nokia GEM learns from its surrounding, and could be made into a QWERTY key-pad phone or gaming pad too. The Finnish giant has come up this concept, back in 2011.

These futuristic technologies could be made available to masses as early as the end of this year. By next year, Samsung should be in a position to announce its first smartphone featuring flexible OLED display. Apple is also not far behind LG and Samsung, while Sony is yet to announce its flexible display let devices. Stay tuned to GizBot.